Last month Federal Judge Alvin Hellerstein ordered the release of David Greenglass’ 1950 Grand Jury testimony against my parents, Ethel and Julius Rosenberg. The statements of most of the Grand Jury witnesses, including Ruth Greenglass, were released in 2008, but at that time David Greenglass was still alive and objected to the release of his testimony. Greenglass family members still object, and the window to appeal Hellerstein’s ruling has not yet closed, so a further delay remains possible. It is more likely, however, that there will be no appeal, and this final disclosure will occur before the end of the summer.
This is big news. When Ruth Greenglass’ testimony was released, it caused a minor sensation in the mainstream media. Although she was a cooperating witness and under oath, Ruth made no mention of my mother typing David Greenglass’ handwritten notes. At trial the next year, both the Greenglasses swore that Ethel typed notes from their key espionage meeting; that testimony resulted in my mother’s execution.
If David’s statements echo Ruth’s, they will provide further proof that David and Ruth invented their decisive testimony against my mother at some time between their Grand Jury appearance and the trial. That would not surprise me; after reviewing the FBI files and other records in the 1980’s, my brother and I came to that conclusion, although the mainstream media ignored us. However, I did not expect that either Ruth’s or David’s Grand Jury testimony would differ so starkly from what they swore to at trial.
I predict that when David’s transcript is released, the media will pounce on this increasingly compelling evidence of my mother’s innocence. That’s a bombshell, but they may miss the bigger story.
The core of the government’s case was that my parents met with the Greenglasses on September 25th, 1945 at the Rosenberg apartment in New York City. At that meeting, the Greenglasses claimed, David gave a sketch of the cross-section of the atomic bomb to my father, and Ethel typed David’s accompanying hand-written notes. The prosecutor claimed this drawing gave away the most important secret known to mankind, and in summarizing the case against Ethel, dramatically stated that as Ethel hit the keys, she struck blow upon blow against her country.
What the media missed is that Ruth’s Grand Jury testimony made no mention whatsoever of the September 25th meeting. I bet David’s won’t mention it either. I’m confident of this because a careful analysis of Soviet and US Government files indicate that Ruth Greenglass transmitted David’s sketch to a KGB agent, without my parents’ involvement, on December 21st, 1945 and that the sketch was logged in to the KGB files on December 27th. There is no evidence, other than the Greenglass’s trial testimony, that a September meeting ever took place. Furthermore, David’s sketch was flawed and worthless, and if it had been given to my father in September it should have arrived in Moscow no later than early October.
In sum, the impending release of David Greenglass’s Grand Jury testimony is likely to provide powerful proof that David and Ruth Greenglass invented the critical September meeting to shift blame from themselves to my parents. It remains to be seen whether our government knew that the Greenglasses were lying.
This is big news. When Ruth Greenglass’ testimony was released, it caused a minor sensation in the mainstream media. Although she was a cooperating witness and under oath, Ruth made no mention of my mother typing David Greenglass’ handwritten notes. At trial the next year, both the Greenglasses swore that Ethel typed notes from their key espionage meeting; that testimony resulted in my mother’s execution.
If David’s statements echo Ruth’s, they will provide further proof that David and Ruth invented their decisive testimony against my mother at some time between their Grand Jury appearance and the trial. That would not surprise me; after reviewing the FBI files and other records in the 1980’s, my brother and I came to that conclusion, although the mainstream media ignored us. However, I did not expect that either Ruth’s or David’s Grand Jury testimony would differ so starkly from what they swore to at trial.
I predict that when David’s transcript is released, the media will pounce on this increasingly compelling evidence of my mother’s innocence. That’s a bombshell, but they may miss the bigger story.
The core of the government’s case was that my parents met with the Greenglasses on September 25th, 1945 at the Rosenberg apartment in New York City. At that meeting, the Greenglasses claimed, David gave a sketch of the cross-section of the atomic bomb to my father, and Ethel typed David’s accompanying hand-written notes. The prosecutor claimed this drawing gave away the most important secret known to mankind, and in summarizing the case against Ethel, dramatically stated that as Ethel hit the keys, she struck blow upon blow against her country.
What the media missed is that Ruth’s Grand Jury testimony made no mention whatsoever of the September 25th meeting. I bet David’s won’t mention it either. I’m confident of this because a careful analysis of Soviet and US Government files indicate that Ruth Greenglass transmitted David’s sketch to a KGB agent, without my parents’ involvement, on December 21st, 1945 and that the sketch was logged in to the KGB files on December 27th. There is no evidence, other than the Greenglass’s trial testimony, that a September meeting ever took place. Furthermore, David’s sketch was flawed and worthless, and if it had been given to my father in September it should have arrived in Moscow no later than early October.
In sum, the impending release of David Greenglass’s Grand Jury testimony is likely to provide powerful proof that David and Ruth Greenglass invented the critical September meeting to shift blame from themselves to my parents. It remains to be seen whether our government knew that the Greenglasses were lying.